Thursday, November 03, 2011

I was really excited when Tynga told me she was starting this meme. I think it’s a fantastic way to get us all thinking about the books we love and want to share with the world. For my first offering, I’m going with a book I constantly recommend: Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews. (Everyone I’ve given this book to has adored it. Instantly.)

Ilona Andrews is a husband-and-wife team who are geniuses in the urban fantasy genre. (Their Edge series, which is sort of rustic urban fantasy, is also amazeballs but I’m going to save that recommendation for another day.) Their writing is rich, funny, action-packed, and filled with surprises. Published in March 2007, Magic Bites is the first book in their Kate Daniels series, which is set in Atlanta, in the not-so-distant future. I’m going to let the authors tell you about it themselves (thanks to some judicious copy-and-pasting from their website):

The world has suffered a magic apocalypse. We pushed the technological progress too far, and now magic returned with a vengeance. It comes in waves, without warning, and vanishes as suddenly as it appears. When magic is up, planes drop out of the sky, cars stall, electricity dies. When magic is down, guns work and spells fail.

It’s a volatile, screwed-up world. Magic feeds on technology, gnawing down on skyscrappers until most of them topple and fall, leaving only skeletal husks behind. Monsters prowl the ruined streets, werebears and werehyenas stalk their prey; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds.

In this world lives Kate Daniels. Kate likes her sword a little too much and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But sometimes even trained killers make friends and fall in love, and when the universe tries to kick them in the face, they kick back.

If that’s not enough to convince you to give Magic Bites a shot, I’ve got more for you. In Magic Bites, Kate’s guardian has been murdered and she works to figure out who was behind it. This puts her between two big powers in town – the Pack (shapechangers) and the People (necromancers who control vampires). As she investigates her guardian’s murder, we’re teased with a separate mystery – who Kate’s father is.

The characters and world building in this book are really strong. Kate is mouthy, guarded, smart, and incredibly powerful. Curran, who’s the leader of the Pack (haha) and the love interest in the series, is sexy, domineering, and he turns into a lion. I love lions. One of my favourite characters in this series, Derek, is such a punk in this one and it’s fantastic. The authors do a great job of setting up a compelling world and cast and the books just keep getting better and better.

So what are you waiting for? Go get this book!! =)

And don’t forget to add your own Daring You To Read… post in the linky below.

Born and raised in the Toronto area, Jenn moved to St. John's, Newfoundland, eight years ago for school. She's still in school (thankfully on another degree!), now trapped in her dissertation. When she's not dissertating, which happens more often than it should, Jenn spends her time reading, watching movies, playing volleyball, travelling, and enjoying the local music scene. Her latest addictions: yoga and Almond Crunch cereal.